Provided herein are devices and methods for driving and controlling industrial processes using inherent kinetic energy of a fluid that is an integral part of the industrial process. In this manner, the environmental impact from the industrial process is significantly reduced and revenue to the producer increased, while maintaining and even increasing reliability and efficiency.
Conventional industrial processes may power a pneumatic device by pressurized fluid. For example, typical petroleum industry pneumatic process control devices and instruments are often powered by pressurized natural gas from a supply such as from wellhead production equipment (i.e., a petroleum separator) through a series of valves, regulators, and small vessels appropriate to the application. A concern in those systems is that significant pressurized natural gas can bleed, emit or vent, including up to all the natural gas, either constantly or when a device is actuated by the gas. In addition, loose, damaged, and worn fittings or piping in what is often a complex tube and pipe layout may also significantly contribute to fugitive emissions from the pneumatic system.
Those natural gas emissions are not only destructive to the environment and public health, but are a costly loss of potential revenue to the producer. A U.S. EPA Gas Star fact sheet states: “Pneumatic devices powered by pressurized natural gas are used widely in the natural gas industry as liquid level controllers, pressure regulators, and valve controllers. Methane emissions from pneumatic devices, which have been estimated at 51 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per year in the production sector, 14 Bcf per year in the transmission sector and <1 Bcf per year in the processing sector, are one of the largest sources of vented methane emissions from the natural gas industry.” See “Options for reducing methane emissions from pneumatic devices in the natural gas industry.” EPA (October 2006). See also “Convert gas pneumatic controls to instrument air.” EPA (October 2006).
Although natural gas (specifically methane) emissions account for a lower overall percentage of all greenhouse gasses, the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of methane determined by EPA models is 21 times greater than CO2, the most abundant greenhouse gas. The health effects of hydrocarbon emissions are also considered to be highly dangerous. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to replace hydrocarbon gas pneumatic controls to air.
Most current solutions that replace natural gas pneumatics with air pneumatics require either electric or gas-powered (natural gas or gasoline) compressors that can be very costly to purchase, operate and maintain. Furthermore, remote drilling sites may not have electric hook-up, and running gas compressors simply replace one source of pollution with another. Maintenance can become an issue for both electric and gas powered compressor systems, which is further compounded by sites that are not readily accessible. For example, all the same issues exist in a multitude of facilities including plants and offshore drilling rigs. Accordingly, the need in the art extends beyond providing air pneumatics, but includes using air pneumatics without requiring electric or gas-powered compressors to achieve sufficient air pressure to control the pneumatics. Disclosed herein are processes and systems that satisfy that need.
As discussed herein, the problem of powering a compressor without electric or gas power is solved by utilizing the kinetic energy inherent in a pressurized fluid flow in the industrial process (e.g., natural gas, petroleum, or water from the wellhead, separators, sales lines, pipelines, etc.) to drive a boundary-layer disk turbine (BLDT), which in turn mechanically drives a compressor pump. This provides a cost-effective, elegant, clean/green and robust solution to compressor power problem.